Love's spell | I am captive wherever I may be

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by Niklas Müller (1809 - 1875)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Der Liebe Bann

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Ich bin gefangen, wo ich geh' und stehe,
   Ich lieg' im Kerker in der Freiheit Haus;
Ich schmacht' in Banden, die ich doch nicht sehe,
   Sie dehnen sich, so weit ich fliehe, aus,
Und ach! je weiter sich die Bande dehnen,
Je stärker ziehet mich zurück [ihr]¹ Sehnen.
   Nun sagte mir ein vielvertrauter Mann:
   Das sey der Liebe allgewalt'ger Bann.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Lang

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with: Lieder von Niclas Müller, eingeleitet von Gustav Schwab, Stuttgart und Tübingen: Verlag der Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1837, page 105.

¹ Lang: "das"

Text Authorship:

by Niklas Müller (1809 - 1875), "Der Liebe Bann", appears in Lieder, in Liebe [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Der Liebe Bann", op. 38[39] (Sechs Lieder) no. 2 (1862), published 1867 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig und Winterthur, J. Rieter-Biedermann [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Love's spell", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2006-12-23
Line count: 8
Word count: 61

Love's spell

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I am captive wherever I may be;
   In the house of freedom, I am imprisoned;
I languish in chains that are invisible to me,
   They stretch as far as I flee.
And ah! the more the chains stretch,
The more strongly I am pulled back by longing.
   A close friend told me
   That this is love's all-powerful spell.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by Sharon Krebs, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Niklas Müller (1809 - 1875), "Der Liebe Bann", appears in Lieder, in Liebe
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2006-12-23
Line count: 8
Word count: 58